#DailyDevotion The Old Testament Teaches Us Jesus Christ
2 Tim. 314But you stay with what you’ve learned and found to be true. You know from whom you learned it 15and how, since you were a little child, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise and save you through faith in Christ Jesus.
Paul here continues to exhort Timothy to remain faithful to the teachings i.e. doctrine he has learned. We all find this to be a dirty word (doctrine) but it the basis of what we learn and live our lives as Christians. We don’t have to make it up as we go. The hard work has already been done for us by those who have gone before us. However, that doesn’t mean we cannot question it. Indeed we must always compare what we are being taught with the Holy Scriptures themselves.
To these Holy Scriptures Paul points Timothy. His grandmother and mother have taught Timothy since he was a little child these Scriptures and the meaning thereof. Paul reminds Timothy that these Scriptures are able to make him wise and save him through faith in Christ Jesus. And there, in Christ Jesus is the key to understanding the Holy Scriptures. Luke 2444“While I was still with you,” He[Jesus] said to them, “I told you that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must come true.” 45Then He opened their minds to understand the Bible.
The Holy Scriptures Paul refers to is the Old Testament. The New Testament is in the process of being written. Timothy’s mother and grandmother knew the Old Testament Scriptures and how they pointed to Jesus. Paul, no doubt, having been taught by Jesus himself, more fully explained from the Old Testament Scriptures how they pointed to Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension which mean for us salvation.
Christians have and keep the Old Testament Scriptures because they are all about Jesus Christ of Nazareth and what he has done for us and what is our end in him. They guide us to what we are to believe and how we are to live our lives. The Law not only shows us our sins but how we are live out lives in love for God and love for one another. We don’t have to guess what God’s will is for our lives. He has given us incredible freedom as to what we can do even as he has limited us to what we can’t do. In this it teaches us wisdom. The chief wisdom it imparts to us is we need a savior from our sin.
It points us to a savior who saved us from our sin and bondage to sin. From Genesis 3:15 where God promises us to save us by the seed of a woman (even as the Lord created the woman from the rib of a man), by the seed of Abraham, through the seed of David and finally we get the testimony from the apostles the seed of Mary, the woman, the promise has been fulfilled. The same chapter from Genesis tells of the death of the seed of the woman. Abraham and Isaac witness to the death of God’s only begotten son and the ram that replaces Isaac shows us the substitutionary death for us. Isaiah’s servant songs show us his great sacrifice for us. The Psalms show us who Jesus would be, what he would do, his intercessionary nature, and his coronation at the right hand of God.
These are just examples of the Old Testament witness to the doctrine of the Church to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We should dig deep into them looking for Jesus in every nook and corner. If you find him, you are probably not wrong. And as you go through, you should use your cross-references to the New Testament to see how the Apostles saw Jesus there too.
Heavenly Father, you have given us the Holy Scriptures that we may know your great love for us in Christ Jesus. Grant us your Holy Spirit that he may open our minds to understand them and may us wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.